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I still remember visiting Engadget site on one morning in the school and read the announcement from Nokia about their new supposedly savior in smartphone wars against Android and iOS. The device was (and still) so beautiful that made me want to replace my aging (dumb) phone, a Sony Ericsson K630i.
I don't remember when was the Lumia made available in Indonesia, but i managed to hold it for the first time in March 2012 when my family and i went to a mall near where i lived. I walk past a Nokia store and immediately drawn to the colorful Lumia 800 that was displayed on the table. It was also the first time for me to use a Windows Phone, because none of my family or friends use a Windows Phone at that time.
Windows Phone looks so different compared to Android and iOS, with its blocky and vibrant tiles that flip here and there displaying information for the user. I was immediately hooked. Everytime i went to that mall, i always tried to visit the Nokia store and fiddle with the Lumia 800.
It was not until August 2012 that my father finally bought me the Lumia after my current phone often rebooted when i try to use it. And also the charging port can't received any current from the charger.
And this is the summary of the specs:
- Snapdragon S2-ish processor
- 512MB of memory
- 16GB of storage
- 8MP rear-facing camera
- NO front facing camera (really, Nokia?)
- 3.7" 800*480 pixels pentile AMOLED display
For the full specs, you can read here: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_800-4240.php
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The box, showing different colors of the Lumia 800, Windows Phone homescreen, and the People Hub
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| The micro-USB port is hidden behind this flap door |
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| and beside the flap door is a tray for your sim card. |
I have never seen this much details given to the smartphone, besides Apple's iPhone. Even then the iPhone doesn't hide its charging port behind a flap door.
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| This is what the top looks like when the flap door is opened and the sim tray is removed. |
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| They even individually drilled these holes for the speaker. Neat. |
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| Mandatory navigation buttons for Windows Phone |
As i have said before, the Lumia uses an AMOLED panel, which gives it deep blacks and vibrant colors. The AMOLED screen makes it hard to separate the bezel and the display, giving it an illusion that there are no bezel at all.
For me, the Lumia is extremely comfortable to hold. Its size is perfect for my hands, and i can hold the phone comfortably because of its overall rounded shape. For me, its only design flaw is that the corners of the phone digs into your wrist, which make me uncomfortable after extended period of usage. Its convex screen also helps too when your thumb swipes on the screen. I didn't notice it at first, but after using it for a while it feels strange using my parent's phone that has flat screen.
Now enough talking about the design of the phone. How's the phone cope with my daily use? Although the Lumia used a (relatively) middle-aged processor at that time, i seldom faced any hiccups when using it. Windows Phone is famous to be able to run smoothly even with low-end hardware. Even after 2 years, application crashing rarely happens to me.
Although being able to run smoothly for everyday use is important, the same thing can also be said for offering various popular third-party applications.
One big problem for Windows Phone is the (lack of) applications. Do you want a YouTube app? too bad, Google doesn't make it for Windows Phone, but there are several YouTube app made by third party developers but most of them are just links to YouTube. Want Google Maps? Again there are only third party applications for Google Maps. Google doesn't bother building applications for Windows Phone. The Facebook app isn't as good as on other OS. No real Instagram app, but at least there are several applications that can display your Instagram timeline.
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| Take a look at Windows Phone's People Hub. I didn't explore that feature much but it displays my Twitter timeline gorgeously. It's far more beautiful compared to the Twitter client for Windows Phone. |
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| The Zune app also has the same beautiful design as the People's Hub. I love how the name of the application written and continued outside the display screen. |
Because the Windows Phone marketplace offers few popular apps, people don't interested buying this phone. Because almost no one buy this phone, the developers are not interested building applications for Windows Phone. Because of this, some Windows Phone's user (myself included) deflect to another operating system that offers better ecosystem. This is disappointing because Windows Phone for a moment seems to finally give fresh air for the competition, giving people alternative from Android and iOS. Now we know that doesn't happen, and the market share of Windows Phone declines every year.
The camera in this phone is acceptable for me. It's way better than my previous phone, but it doesn't live up to its expectation considering it uses a Carl Zeiss lens, and many previous Nokia smartphone shines in the camera department when they paired with Carl Zeiss optics. When i take a picture, the camera animation shows that the picture becomes softer compared with the live view in the viewfinder. It also usually shows soft purple tinge on the center of the viewfinder which make me question myself whether the camera module or the software that needs improvement.
Below are several photos taken from the camera without any editing (other than resizing)
I also experienced several problems with the hardware. Around July 2013, someone accidentally dropped my phone from a table. Since then, the speaker sounds muffled and the WiFi disconnected every time i locked the phone which is annoying. To be fair, the table was rather high and it dropped to the floor that seemed to be made from granite. The screen also shows minor cracks below the navigation buttons. But other than that, the phone's poly-carbonate body doesn't show any sign of damage which is impressive. Another problem is the charger. After almost a year, the charger head stopped working. Worse, its warranty expired after 6 months. Fortunately there are some charger heads laying around in my house so i can use it to charge my phone.
For me, it feels that Lumia 800 and Windows Phone are made for each other. Beautiful hardware mated with vibrant and colorful operating system. Too bad Windows Phone doesn't have enough decent applications that can attract large audience to buy this phone.
